Asheville-Based Animal Shelter A Total Loss, 150 Animals Displaced; Donations Needed

ASHEVILLE, NC (Oct. 1, 2024)  – Less than 24 hours before Hurricane Helene decimated Asheville, NC, the small staff at Brother Wolf Animal Rescue (Brother Wolf) made a desperate plea to the Asheville community for help. Approximately 100 animals needed to be relocated into temporary foster homes to ride out the storm, “just for the weekend”, joining the 50 animals already in foster homes (for a total of 150). The community stepped up in a big way and remarkably, every kennel was emptied within two hours. The homeless pets were all scheduled to return to the shelter on Tuesday (Oct. 1), but less than 24 hours later, the entire community, including Brother Wolf, was in crisis.

After the storm moved out, Brother Wolf’s Executive Director, Leah Craig Chumbley, made the heartbreaking discovery that there was no longer any shelter for the animals to return to. All three buildings, along with all three of the shelter’s animal transport vehicles, and their mobile medical unit, were completely destroyed. Now four days later, the shelters are nearly unreachable. There is still knee-high mud and suspected sewage covering the areas where the flood waters once flowed. The buildings are all expected to be condemned, and there is nowhere for the 150 animals in Brother Wolf foster homes to return to.

Many of Brother Wolf’s 34 staff members had to either flee their homes or be rescued, some are still unable to return home. Only three staff members were able to return to work immediately, working from a make-shift office in one of the city’s few areas with any internet service. Cell service is spotty, roads are impassable, there is no power, no water, and fuel is hard to find, so they now walk miles every day, working round the clock. 

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue impacts more than 5,400 animals each year, and more than 60% of them come from small, rural shelters in Western North Carolina who depend on Brother Wolf to provide a second chance for their animals. Many animals come from rural shelters that have neither the resources nor the adopters to be able to provide a lifesaving outcome. This immediate, unexpected halt to Brother Wolf’s sheltering operation will have a ripple effect far beyond their Asheville location, impacting the communities and animals who depend on them most. Brother Wolf has an urgent need for financial support at this time in order to resume operations at a temporary headquarters so that they can continue to support animals in need.